My two grandchildren, a 13 year old girl and an 8 year old boy, are out of school today because of parent-teacher conferences. Guess where they are. Right. Here at my house. Hot wheel tracks are all over my kitchen counter and floor. "Mimi, look! Mimi, watch!" I'm called to watch one hot wheel wreck and catastrophe after another. At the moment, a disagreement seems to be developing about how to arrange the hot wheel tracks. Will it escalate into a major argument? Suspense! We shall see.
My granddaughter went to the orthopedist today for a check on whether her broken arm is healing properly. It is, and, in two and one half weeks, she will have her splint removed from her arm and a smaller splint applied. She has not needed a plaster cast, because her arm is healing well as is, with what was to be a temporary splint.
I'm assigned to the laptop computer, because the little, and not so little, people take over the desktop periodically. Blogging may be light.
Friday, January 23, 2009
What Is The World Coming To?
From Andy Borowitz at The Huffington Post:
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.
Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tic, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.
....
The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.
"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.
Click the link and read the rest.
Thanks to Ann.
In the first two weeks since the election, President-elect Barack Obama has broken with a tradition established over the past eight years through his controversial use of complete sentences, political observers say.
Millions of Americans who watched Mr. Obama's appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes on Sunday witnessed the president-elect's unorthodox verbal tic, which had Mr. Obama employing grammatically correct sentences virtually every time he opened his mouth.
....
The president-elect's stubborn insistence on using complete sentences has already attracted a rebuke from one of his harshest critics, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.
"Talking with complete sentences there and also too talking in a way that ordinary Americans like Joe the Plumber and Tito the Builder can't really do there, I think needing to do that isn't tapping into what Americans are needing also," she said.
Click the link and read the rest.
Thanks to Ann.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
On Guantanamo From One Who Was There
Blogger Arkansas Hillbilly said...
Mimi,
I for one am glad the President is closing GTMO. I was there when we opened it (part of the fleet hospital treating the wounds of the detainees), and I can tell you that it was never meant to go on this long. We knew that 95% of them were just some poor schmucks who were given weapons and told to fight, but we didn't know which ones, and so many of them were sick and wounded and needed help. I remember one guy we brought back from the brink of death from TB in particular, and the amputations that had to be done to save alot of them. My unit did a lot of good at the time.
Some of those guys are bad men. When he first arrived, David Hicks swore he would "kill an American before I leave". That's the scary part to me. I believe in due process, and I am ashamed of what GTMO became, but when it started we were trying to sort the bad guys from the good,treat all the wounded and hopefully get information WITHOUT torture. When I was there the mere mention of that word was shunned for fear of being accused of it. I used to be proud of the things I did there... and still am of the accomplishments. But all the allegations of torture after I left, what it became, I am horribly ashamed of the whole mess. You shouldn't be ashamed to serve your country, but there it is. Thank you Mr. Bush and Chaney.
Thank you for your words, Arkansas Hillbilly.
Mimi,
I for one am glad the President is closing GTMO. I was there when we opened it (part of the fleet hospital treating the wounds of the detainees), and I can tell you that it was never meant to go on this long. We knew that 95% of them were just some poor schmucks who were given weapons and told to fight, but we didn't know which ones, and so many of them were sick and wounded and needed help. I remember one guy we brought back from the brink of death from TB in particular, and the amputations that had to be done to save alot of them. My unit did a lot of good at the time.
Some of those guys are bad men. When he first arrived, David Hicks swore he would "kill an American before I leave". That's the scary part to me. I believe in due process, and I am ashamed of what GTMO became, but when it started we were trying to sort the bad guys from the good,treat all the wounded and hopefully get information WITHOUT torture. When I was there the mere mention of that word was shunned for fear of being accused of it. I used to be proud of the things I did there... and still am of the accomplishments. But all the allegations of torture after I left, what it became, I am horribly ashamed of the whole mess. You shouldn't be ashamed to serve your country, but there it is. Thank you Mr. Bush and Chaney.
Thank you for your words, Arkansas Hillbilly.
Comments Moderation Is Back On
I'm not putting up with the crap comments that are coming in, and I am the decider about what is crap. If folks want to disagree with sensible arguments, well and good, but I'm not going to spend my time rebutting nonsense, nor will I allow the nonsense to clutter up my comments.
Guantanamo To Be Shut Down - Good News!
From Sam Stein at The Huffington Post:
The Obama administration called on Thursday for the closure of Guantanamo Bay within the next year. The move will be greeted with widespread approval around the world, the end of a blotch on America's image abroad. Coming in the form of an executive order, it carries with it the power of law.
I pray that it won't take a year to close it down.
The Obama administration called on Thursday for the closure of Guantanamo Bay within the next year. The move will be greeted with widespread approval around the world, the end of a blotch on America's image abroad. Coming in the form of an executive order, it carries with it the power of law.
I pray that it won't take a year to close it down.
The Last Word In Political Correctness
DUE TO THE CLIMATE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS NOW PERVADING AMERICA:
Kentucky, Tennessee Georgia, North & South Carolina and West Virginia mountain and hill folk will no longer be referred to as 'HILLBILLIES.'
You must now refer to them as
APPALACHIAN-AMERICANS.
And furthermore
HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:
1. She is not a 'BABE' or a 'CHICK' - She is a
'BREASTED AMERICAN.'
2. She is not 'EASY' - She is
'HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE.'
3. She is not a 'DUMB BLONDE' - She is a
'LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY.'
4. She has not 'BEEN AROUND' - She is a
'PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION.'
5. She does not ' NAG' you - She becomes
'VERBALLY REPETITIVE.'
6. She is not a 'TWO-BIT HOOKER' - She is a
'LOW COST PROVIDER.'
HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:
1. He does not have a 'BEER GUT' - He has developed a
'LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY.'
2. He is not a 'BAD DANCER' - He is
'OVERLY CAUCASIAN.'
3. He does not 'GET LOST ALL THE TIME' - He
'INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS.'
4. He is not 'BALDING' - He is in
'FOLLICLE REGRESSION.'
5. He does not act like a 'TOTAL ASS' - He develops a case of
'RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION.'
(Loved this one!)
6. It's not his 'CRACK' you see hanging out of his pants - It's
'REAR CLEAVAGE.
Don't blame me. Blame a local fellow coonass correspondent.
Kentucky, Tennessee Georgia, North & South Carolina and West Virginia mountain and hill folk will no longer be referred to as 'HILLBILLIES.'
You must now refer to them as
APPALACHIAN-AMERICANS.
And furthermore
HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:
1. She is not a 'BABE' or a 'CHICK' - She is a
'BREASTED AMERICAN.'
2. She is not 'EASY' - She is
'HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE.'
3. She is not a 'DUMB BLONDE' - She is a
'LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY.'
4. She has not 'BEEN AROUND' - She is a
'PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION.'
5. She does not ' NAG' you - She becomes
'VERBALLY REPETITIVE.'
6. She is not a 'TWO-BIT HOOKER' - She is a
'LOW COST PROVIDER.'
HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:
1. He does not have a 'BEER GUT' - He has developed a
'LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY.'
2. He is not a 'BAD DANCER' - He is
'OVERLY CAUCASIAN.'
3. He does not 'GET LOST ALL THE TIME' - He
'INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS.'
4. He is not 'BALDING' - He is in
'FOLLICLE REGRESSION.'
5. He does not act like a 'TOTAL ASS' - He develops a case of
'RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION.'
(Loved this one!)
6. It's not his 'CRACK' you see hanging out of his pants - It's
'REAR CLEAVAGE.
Don't blame me. Blame a local fellow coonass correspondent.
The Coolest Couple Evah!
At heart, I'm a hopeless romantic of the very worst kind. I was blown away by this romantic slow-dancing moment in the inauguration celebration. Beautiful!
Stolen from that cool Englishman, Doorman-Priest. DP, I had to do it.
Please Pray For David
I could stand being on y'all's prayer list for the next week. There are rumors of job cutbacks here at work and I don't know how severe they'll be. So prayers for my continued employment would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks, David
David, of course we'll pray. Many of the folks whom I know who still have jobs are quite concerned about losing them.
Thanks, David
David, of course we'll pray. Many of the folks whom I know who still have jobs are quite concerned about losing them.
I Can't Believe It - Two Years
My second anniversary in Bloggerland arrives just on time. Here's my first non-post on my non-blog:
Monday, January 22, 2007
No Blog
My friends, I don't really have a blog. It seems I was forced to have a faux blog to be allowed to post comments on certain sites. I am looking at you Elizabeth Kaeton.
Posted by Grandmère Mimi at 9:10 PM
Yet, on the very same day - Voila! - I had a blog. See post No. 2, if you like.
Monday, January 22, 2007
No Blog
My friends, I don't really have a blog. It seems I was forced to have a faux blog to be allowed to post comments on certain sites. I am looking at you Elizabeth Kaeton.
Posted by Grandmère Mimi at 9:10 PM
Yet, on the very same day - Voila! - I had a blog. See post No. 2, if you like.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
All Is Not Right With The World - Congo
Georgianne Nienaber at The Huffinton Post comes a heart-wrenching story about the conditions in the refugee camp, Mugunga II, located near Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo:
We were wading through a literal sea of humanity housed on a volcanic landscape that mirrored Dante's Inferno. Children clung to our arms as if our limbs were the branches of trees. The doctor warned us to avoid touching, since disease was present in every snotty nose and dirty hand that reached for comfort. You cannot say no to the begging for human touch, and soon rivers of green, yellow, and brown fluids from runny noses cover arms and hands and clothing, and eventually you give up trying to clean it off. The stench is overpowering--13,360 adults and 7,000 children crammed into huts unfit for animals. It is a little over a week since Christmas day and it occurs to you that even HE was born into better conditions than this.
....
Miserable impressions flood the mind and you are soon overwhelmed and manage to hover above it all, recording images and sounds with cameras and recorders that do the job because there is no way you could ever remember all of this--or would want to. It is only when the writer comes to the page that the tears begin to fall.
....
Imagine a small city with no infrastructure. No electricity, stores, medical care, food, little water and no blankets to cover the newborn whose cries are a testimony to their fight for life. Imagine women working as volunteer midwives who carry pregnant rape victims on their backs from the forests to the relative "safety" of this landscape.
Read the rest of Georgianne's post and weep. Where is the help? Is nothing to be done? Does no one see? How can we look away?
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